Flicker
by crazysockmonkeys
Summary: How will Daphne and her two children, especially her daughter, react after Niles' death? A sequel to BaronessBlixen's "Goodnight, My Love" and Kristen3's "The Final Goodbye."


**Author's note: Hello everyone! Thanks for reading, as always. Thanks to BaronessBlixen _("Goodnight, My Love")_ and Kristen3 _("The Final Goodbye")_ for their awesome stories! If you haven't read them, I'm strongly suggest you do! You might understand what's going on, but you'll be able to grasp it better by pairing it with those stories. (And, like I said, they're awesome, I recommend them in general!) Enjoy!**

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Abigail felt lost. Gone. Everything was missing; the world suddenly wasn't turning anymore.

Her father was dead.

She was glued to the floor suddenly. Tears were frozen to her eyes and wouldn't thaw. A moment ago, she had been weeping hopelessly, and now...

The whole room had become dark. A minute ago, it had felt alright, her mother was smiling, and reminding them all of memories and stories once told. It seemed empty now. Abby and David stood by the bed, looking down at their father's lifeless body, not knowing what to say or do.

As she looked at Niles' face, she suddenly wanted to touch it. She reached out, her hand trembling, but David caught it and led her outside into the hallway. He closed the door behind him.

Again, he said nothing, but his eyes said everything. They could hear their mother's voice on the phone now, talking in soft, heavy tones. Abby couldn't move. David took her by the hand and took her down to the couch downstairs in the living room, sitting her down. "I have to go," he said. "I just...I can't, Abby."

"I know," she whispered, barely able to get the words out. David hated it here. It reminded him if lost time and broken emotions in a time-release box. The box had just opened. "Mom's here," she said.

He nodded, then left.

Once more, she sat stagnant, tucking a lock of her brown hair behind her ear. She looked like her mother Daphne, and David looked like Niles. It had always been that way. Abigail had inherited the same general body shape as her mother and loved to dance, however on the inside she and her mother could have been from different planets. She had always wanted to be like Daphne, yet she had never gotten there. Abby wanted to be strong and to be confident yet humble just like her, but the only thing that had ever surfaced was a lot of fear and low-self esteem.

People told her she was like Niles sometimes. She had attended school at a prestigious fine arts academy for dancing, but found herself falling in love with opera and classical music. When she had gotten old enough to drink, she loved wine and sherry, drinks that shined when she held them up to the light.

She sat for longer and longer in a crumpled heap on the sofa, not moving and hardly breathing. People came for Niles and took him away, but she didn't notice. The only thing she paid attention to was her mother, slipping out the back door and outside. She sat on the porch swing, silently and somberly, and by some sort of miracle Abby got herself to move. Slowly, she sat down next to her mother, who stared out into the trees in front of them, and they reflected in her still lively and youthful eyes. _They'll never get old,_ Abby thought to herself. Her mother's eyes that wandered off into the distance had not aged a day ever since she could remember.

The more she looked at Daphne's suddenly gray face, the worse she felt, until she put her head in her hands and let her vision slip through the cracks in between her fingers. Everything rocked back and forth slowly, and the wind dragged its hands across her head.

Without warning, the dirtiest word she had ever processed leapt out of her mouth and flew through the air. It was a word she had never said before, a word she had only read and heard on television and in movies. It came for no reason that Abby could find; she wasn't angry, just in deep distress.

She knew that Daphne had heard it, although she said nothing. _Talk to me,_ she wanted to scream at her, but she didn't. She wasn't one to yell and words never came easily out of her mouth.

"Mo-om," was all she got out.

Daphne moved for the first time, placing an arm around her daughter and pulling her into her. "I know, sweetie," she said, her English accent still laced through her words. Her fingers moved through Abby's hair expertly. She had done this countless times. Abigail still felt like a child inside her mother's embrace, even though she was now an adult. Everything seemed timeless now. She could pretend that Daphne's hand and arm was not wrinkled and creased, and she could imagine that her dad was still here, still alive, ready to take her to the opera or tell her that she was beautiful. She knew that Daphne had often done this.

"He loved you," whispered the older woman. "He wouldn't have wanted you anyway else."

"Thank you, you too, Mom. Those stories you told me...about how you and Dad...danced together, and then just now when you...talked about them..." There was enough pain inside of her for hours of tears, but they wouldn't come.

"That was four hours ago, Abby darling. You've been here that long. You don't remember?"

"No..." she said, and as she looked out into the day, what was late morning was now mid-afternoon. She remembered the conversation that had taken place, how David had said everything, chiming in and playing around, still staying with Niles fully, telling him everything he had always wanted to say.

Painfully, she remembered the only thing she had said. _"Daddy..."_

And that was when the tears came and again and wouldn't stop. Time shifted once more and she couldn't find it, and she wasn't sure how long she cried.

Daphne stood in stony silence, trying her best to comfort her daughter. Abby knew that for her it probably hadn't sunk in yet.

"The last...the last thing I said..." She tried to tell her mom as best she could what had her stomach writhing in pain.

"He understood, sweetie. I know it might not have seemed like it, but your father was so receptive. He understood what you wanted to say."

_How?_ she wanted to ask.

She didn't speak any longer, but rather let the tears flow down her face without interruption as Daphne held her.

Soon, she heard the sound of the back door opening. Surprisingly, it was David. He looked tired, and compared to his usual appearance he was disheveled and worn out. He was about to sit down next to Abby when suddenly he went back inside and came back with a blanket and placed it around her shoulders. Abigail was completely unaware that she was severely trembling all over.

"I...I told Alyssa," said David. Alyssa was his intelligent, affectionate wife who had loved Niles, and he loved her back.

"How did it go?" asked Daphne.

David began to fight tears himself. "She's pregnant, Mom. I didn't get a chance to tell her where I was going this morning, and she just found out yesterday...Oh, Mom..."

"It's alright," she whispered, taking her hand away from Abby's hair for a moment and placing it on his cheek. "I...I once had a premonition. I saw you just as you are now, and I saw a little boy. Your son. You called him Niles."

A tear escaped David's eye.

"And I told him about it. He's never forgotten. He knew."

Abby suddenly sat up, away from her mother's shoulder. Sadness still ruled her body, but there was a small sparkle of happiness inside of her, and just for a moment she allowed it to reflect off her face. She was still crying, but she managed to say, "You're gonna have a baby, David. A little Niles."

She squeezed his hand.

"And it's about time," Daphne joked, and all three of them did their best to laugh.

"I'm so proud of you both," she said, looking at her two wonderful children. "I love you two so much. We have to hold on now. We have to be strong."

They nodded, and suddenly the flicker of joy she had felt spread and turned into hope. It was strength; it was determination, what she had always wanted from Daphne.

The porch swing kept rocking with the three of them in it until evening, when Daphne began to cry. Soon after that, Abby and David helped her inside and they all forced themselves to eat and drink plenty of water. David called Alyssa and he and Abby stayed at the house that night. She knew that he didn't want to stay, that he hated it as had he said before, but he was willing to stay for them. He slept on the couch in the living room while the women slept in the two guest rooms, as if to guard and protect two of the most important people in his life.

In the morning, they parted ways. David went back to Alyssa, and Abigail went back to face her empty apartment, where tears were not strangers. Yet somehow, the small light of encouragement was still there inside of her, guiding the way.

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**The End**


End file.
